History of Henderson County, Kentucky, Part 3

Author: Starling, Edmund Lyne, 1864- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Henderson, Ky.
Number of Pages: 892

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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

some of which I dug into, where I found some fine relics, and got in possession of some excellent historical facts."

The beautiful mound upon which is situated Henderson's Tem- ple of Justice, has been the subject of debate for many years, a num- ber claiming that it is a natural mound, while many others claim it to be the work of the Mound Builders Tradition has it that this hill or mound in its originality was perfectly shaped, gently and gracefully sloping from its apex to its base, but that the rude hand of the con- tractor, under the supervision of cruelly tasteless engineers, caused its symmetry to be butchered on two sides. This mound at one time, undoubtedly, sloped in every direction from its summit, as it does now in the direction of Main Street. It is well known, also, that there were a great number of ponds in close proximity to this place, as well as in other parts of the town. Couple this, then, with the historical fact that the Mound Builders did not confine themselves to the taking of dirt from the surrounding soil, but in the building of what they termed their sacred mounds, transported the soil from a long distance, one must at least become reasonably impressed with the belief that this most beautiful spot was the handiwork of that strange people, who have long since lost their identity, and not the work of Noah's waters, or any subsequent upheaving of the elements. It is, perhaps, quite true that our "Justice Hall" stands upon ground once conse- crated to the peculiar worship of the aborigines.

HENDERSON COUNTY MOUNDS.

There are other mounds in the county and from them have been gathered many interesting relics of antiquity. Upon the lands of the late Colonel A. H. Major, several miles above the city, is a mound of which the following notice was made several years ago.

" In digging upon these lands numerous skeletons, supposed to have been aborigines, were found. Colonel Major and D. R. Burbank, conducting the search, are quite of the opinion that this was never an Indian burial ground, but of a people who inhabited the country prior to the coming of the Indians. Many articles of peculiar beauty and marked curiosity have been found, among the number pipes, bowls, cooking utensils, weapons of war, and evidences of military and official rank. In one grave was found three skeletons, the two smaller ones, supposed to have been females, sitting upon the larger one, supposed to have been a male, and in the mouth of each was found a pipe. This place must have been the burial ground of a populous race of people, for the quantity of teeth found has never before been equaled,"

On the farm of A. J. Anderson, in Diamond Island Bend, are many mounds, four of which stood above the high water of 1883, the highest ever known. The ground upon which his house stands is a

HISTORY OF HENDERSON.COUNTY, KY.

mound, and in 1854, when digging for clay for the purpose of making brick, thousands of bones were found and many remarkable relics, in- cluding glass trinkets handsomely carved. In addition to this, a lump of lead three inches square was found. Mr. Anderson is satisfied in his own mind that his place was never an Indian burial ground, but that the bones and relics belonged to a race of people living here long before the Indians.

EARLY OUTLAWS.

The first white people of whose history anything is known, con- nected with the prestine settlement of Henderson County, were a set of graceless outlaws noted for their wicked deeds and incomparable attrocities. It cannot be said that they claimed the " Red Banks " as a permanent home, for their lives were devoted to wild adventure, thievery and murder in all their manifold sins and wickedness. These men were the Mays, Masons and Wilsons, headed by the notorious John A. Murrell and Samuel May. Their rendezvous was on the bank of the river, and while here made it their business to rob boats floating upon the river, and, frequently, murdering the crews. This was their headquarters, and robbing boats their occupation up to the time Captain Young and his company (who had organized for the pur- pose of driving them out of the country) appeared in the neighborhood. For a number of years John A. Murrell camped at times upon the iden- tical spot where the residence of A. J. Anderson now stands, opposite Diamond Island, and gave to that place the poetic name it yet retains -" Forest Home." After the appearance of Captain Young, the clan then located at or near Cave-in-Rock, Ill., where they continued to pursue their nefarious avocation.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Prior to the formation of Henderson as the thirty-eighth county in 1798, there were but few settlers south of Green River. The first permanent settlement, of which any knowledge is had, was made above the Red Banks-now Henderson-on Richard Henderson & Co.'s land in the year 1791. These settlers, or a majority of them, were Germans, therefore to that people may be accorded the credit of the beginning of Henderson. During the fall of 1791 two or three fam- ilies located above the now City of Henderson, on the ground which has borne for years the historic name of Hughes' Field. Finding this ground to be low and marshy, they packed up and removed here as a better site for building a village. Immediately after landing they com- menced, with what tools were then at their command, chopping from .the immediate forests surrounding the river bank, logs suitable for building such huts as would protect them from weather and make

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

them comfortable. When a sufficient number of logs had been gotten together, they commenced the building of a row of block-houses, or cabins, after the primitive style; on the river bank, extending from the present site of Clore's Mill, at the foot of Sixth Street, down to the resi- dence of Dr. A. Dixon, at the foot of Powell Street. At that time there was a strip of territory one hundred and fifty feet in width lying beyond the present northwestern boundary of Water Street, and on this ground is where the first buildings in Henderson were located. From the gradual washing of the river most of that territory has dis- appeared. That part of it between Second and Third Streets was removed in building the present wharf.

THE FIRST SETTLERS

here were Michael Sprinkle, John Upp, William Smith, father of William Finely Smith, John Husbands, John Haussman, Jacob Sprinkle, John Kurkendall, Eneas McCallister and John Dunn. During the year 1792 Captain John Dunn was appointed Constable for this territory. Eneas McCallister, grandfather of the late John E. McCallister, was detained here with his family by the ice, while enroute from the Cumberland River country to Pittsburgh, Penn. There were not more than half a dozen little log cabins on the bank, and two of these found vacant by Mr. McCallister were taken pos- session of and occupied by him and his family.

There were no Indians at that time to be seen on this side of the Ohio, but on the Indiana side were to be found several tribes, among the number were the Shawnees, from whom Shawneetown derived its name .. They were very troublesome at times, and as heartless as troublesome. A party of young boys, of whom were Michael and Jake Sprinkle and John Upp, armed for the purpose of hunting, crossed the river in canoes, never once suspecting that Indians were in that vicinity, and upon landing were surprised by a party in am- bush, two of them captured, one shot down, the fourth being an expert swimmer, and under providential favors, made his escape back to Kentucky. The two captives were tortured in many ways-they were made to walk forced marches, then beaten with many stripes, and finally, after having undergone a terrible journey, bare-footed and almost naked, marched into Sandusky, on Lake Erie, from whence, after having lived a most frightful life, they escaped, and some time afterward arrived at the Red Banks, to the joy of their kin and comrades.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY.

Among the traditions of the country we are told that many years anterior to the advent of the surveyors employed by Richard Hen- derson & Co., and even until the cessation of the annual fires, which

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

used to sweep the earth fore and aft, this country, from the begin- ning of the low lands which encircle the city, was a vast prairie or barren, extending as far as the eye could reach. Indeed, many set- tlers now living, who came to this county long since the advent of the present century, remember when the greater part of the county was a barren territory. There was no timber only along the creeks, water courses and marshy places. This continued for many years until a swamp of scrubby oak took possession of the land, and from this beginning a magnificent growth of timber, including the hickory, ash, gum, elm, maple, poplar, sugar, sugar maple, oak, catalpa, wal- nut and sycamore grew up luxuriantly over the entire country. During these early times the whole face of the country was covered with hazelnut bushes, pea-vines, wild strawberries, blackberries, and a variety of other kinds of wild fruits. Above and below the then villiage of Henderson, the country was one dense cane-brake, afford- ing an abundance of the best food for cattle, which were driven on in large numbers. There were no Indians to be seen except a few friendly ones passing through.

WILD GAME, BIRDS AND ANIMALS.

The hillsides and valleys were thickly populated with wild ani- mals, such as wolves, wild cats, panthers, deer, and very frequently a large bear would be seen. Turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants, squirrels, rabbits and other wild game of the smaller species were here in seemingly inexhaustible numbers. Mr. Payne Dixon, who came to Kentucky and located near Henderson in 1805, in a most interesting conversation with the writer, indirectly mentioned the fact of having seen, a short time after his arrival, a set of elk horns remarkable for their size and length. These horns, when placed with their tip ends down, would admit a man five feet in height walking between the prongs and underneath the skull, without touch- ing it or bending his body. Among the winged birds, found at that time in great numbers, were those which are at this time total strang- ers to his country. They were the paroquet, a species of parrot, but of much handsomer plumage, the raven, a bird made famous by Edgar A. Poe, and many others, noted for the peculiarities of their plumage. As the country gradually developed and became populated the birds migrated to wilder lands.

In those days game was very plentiful, a large buck of fine flesh could be purchased for the small sum of fifty cents, while turkeys were given away. No apprehension was felt concerning a knawing stomach, for the abundance of wild game insured a week's supply at any time in a half hour's walk from the door of the cabin home. As long as there was powder in the house and lead in the pouch, the pioneer little worried or thought of hunger ever staring him in the face, but kept his shanty stocked with meats which now command fabulous prices.

CHAPTER III.

SECOND COLONY.

TRIALS OF THE PIONEERS-THE OUTLAWS DRIVEN OUT-GREAT RELIG- IOUS REVIVAL.

HE few pioneers who had settled here were, a few years afterwards, reinforced by. the incoming of the ancestors of many of the best families now living, among whom were the Hopkins, headed by General Samuel Hopkins, agent and attorney, in fact for Richard Henderson & Co., the Bells, Andersons, Holloways, Talbotts, New- mans, Barnetts, Ashbys, McBrides, Fuquays, Rankins, Hamiltons and others.

About this time all of this section of the country, to the Ten- nessee line and including a great portion of the territory north of Green River, was infested and completely overrun by a band of noto- rious murderers and thieves, who proved a terror to the better class of people. Among this class of outlaws were the Harpes, the Masons, the Wilsons, the Mays, of whom mention has been made, and many others, who were not the avowed, but were the secret friends and abettors of the outlaws. These fiends incarnate, thirsted for blood ; they rode the forests through and through, fearing neither the power of God, nor the defense of the settlers. At that time cabins were far apart, and they connected only by paths and trails. For the settler to attempt a defense by the use of fire-arms, was but an invitation to murder, and to undertake a union of forces at any time for the purpose of combining against the outlaws, was as useless as it was next to impossible. Therefore, many men, solely for self-preservation, were forced to become apparent friends of these people. Outlawry was at high tide, and deeds of violence, shocking to civilization, were perpe-

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

trated with as little concern as though regulated by law, and carried out by authority of the courts. A half hour's ride in any direction would place the highwayman out of the range of primitive danger, and . safely away in a territory where they could not be found with a double microscopic search warrant. For this reason, then, they were to be, and were greatly feared by all honest men. The better class in those days were in the minority and had to content themselves and keep absolutely quiet in the enjoyment of their possessions, and in the occu- pancy of a purely neutral position.

SALT.

One of the greatest privations the early settlers had to contend with was the great lack of salt. For months they were compelled to do their cooking without this necessity, and oftentimes forced to ride hundreds of miles over a wild and untraveled country to obtain a small sack, for which a fabulous price was charged. Accounts now in possession of the writer furnish conclusive evidence of this import- ant fact. Ten dollars per bushel was often paid, to which had to be added the loss of time and the long and dangerous journey made to secure a small supply. From old records it would seem that this commodity passed current between men, and in very many instances was taken in exchange for land and stock. It was also frequently given in exchange for labor and merchant accounts. In 1794, exter- nal evidences suggested beyond question, the existence of salt water . in many parts of the county, and the feasibility of utilizing it so as to supply the wants of the settlers. Hunters and surveyors traversing the woods and barrens in search of game and boundary lines chanced upon buffalo trails and narrow paths, beaten by the hoofs of deer, and following them discovered what was known as "licks." These licks were frequented by large numbers of wild animals, and asan indis- putable evidence, hillsides were found to be undermined by the lick of wild tongues, and numerous holes yet moist were found there to attest the presence of a briny substance. Upon closer and more accurate examination, the clay was found to consist of a strong part salt, and this determined some of the more enterprising settlers to venture an enterprise which subsequently resulted in one of the great- est blessings to the new country.

Eneas McCallister, grandfather of the late John E. McCallister, Esq., having discovered one of these licks on Highland Creek, about twenty miles from the Red Banks-now Henderson-much frequented by buffalo and deer, conceived the idea of boring for salt water. He at once proceeded to sink a well, and at a short distance found water

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

of very great strength in abundance. He erected here salt works, and in a short time was able to supply all those living at the Red Banks, the adjoining neighborhood, and for many miles surrounding. He continued to manufacture salt at this point for the term of three or four years, at the end of which time parties from Virginia appeared upon the ground, not only asserting, but proving a better title to the land under the laws as then understood. With these undisputable evidences staring him in the face, Mr. McCallister immediately dis- possessed himself and soon after located other wells three miles east on Highland Creek, at a point then and yet known as the "Knob Lick." This soon became a noted locality, so much so that the most important public road running south of west from the Yellow Banks, now Owensboro, was directed to that point. In the formation of Webster County in 1860, this spot was included within the boundaries of that county, and can be found three or four miles to the right of Sebree City.

At the Knob Lick, Mr. McCallister found a stream of water equally as strong as the one he had left at Highland Lick, and here salt was made as well as at Highland until the year 1827, when both wells, from some unaccountable reason, ceased to flow, and the works were abandoned.

Simultaneously with the enterprise of Mr. McCallister, salt was made in large quantities at the Saline Wells in the Illinois Territory by Captain James Barbour, of Henderson. Much of the salt used by the early settlers of Henderson County was obtained from these works, they going and returning on horseback, with two bushels or less.

CAPTAIN YOUNG AND THE OUTLAWS.

During the year 1799, the outlaws, of whom mention has before been made, had increased in numbers, daring and villiany. They rode over a large territory of country, embracing the entire Green River section, extending as far northeast as Mercer County, and met with no resistance adequate even to their discomforture. They were guilty of hell-born iniquities, which would put to blush the demoniacal deeds of all ignorance and vice which had preceded their adventure into the new country. They were the terror of terrors, and so much to be dreaded, that Captain Young, a dashing commander, with a number of equally brave men of Mercer County, armed themselves and determined at all hazards, to drive the villains from the country. Mounted upon fiery chargers of blood and metal, and armed with the

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

best weapons the country afforded, this body of liberty-loving, impet- uous troopers, rushed to the deliverance of their country and friends from this organized clan, not actuated by any lion-like temptation to spring upon their victim or to satiate a long settled and deadly hate, but a clan organized to glut a savage vengeance unknown to the most heartless red man. The life they led, was one of hire and salary, not revenge-it was the counting of money against human life. It was not only the counting of so many pieces of silver, against so many ounces of blood, but it was a life of inhuman nature, enveloped in depravity, intensified in all of its paroxysms of crime. Murder, coupled with robbery, or murder alone seemed to have been the actuating impulse of this Godless clan. The innocent, the weak and harmless, the sil- „very locks of decrepit old age, the golden tresses of sweet infancy and purity of charming maidenhood, served as no paliating medium, but these met the same fate as did hardy manhood. All, all, who fell in the way of these highwaymen were sacrificed to satisfy their thirst for blood, and died examples of the barbarity of incontinent brutes and fiends. To capture or slay these, was the ultima-thule of Captain Young, and his men, and nothing short of a sad and ser- ious reverse, a grand and overwhelming victory for the outlaws, could check them in their most holy, lawful and natural expedition.

A bright sun shone upon their departure, the blessings of the peo- ple followed them, the sweetest smiles and cheering words of female beauty greeted them and bade them God speed. The eolian whis- perings of the winds cheered them on, the forests echoed, clear con- sciences and a firm faith in the right and their ultimate triumph, strengthened them. In all of their adventurous plans and perilous surroundings, they recognized the coadjutant power of the Almighty, in whose good will they most implicitly relied. Captain Young and his men recognized the perils of their undertaking; they understood the wily machinations of the enemy, and with blood for blood emblaz- ened upon their banner, started upon their mission of capture or death, utterly regardless of their own personal comforts or the hard- ships attending a campaign in such a wild and comparatively un- marked country.

Exasperated by new stories told them as they passed on in search of the outlaws, the feelings of the patriots became more and more in- tense, and to slay an outlaw was an act commending the slayer to pro- motion. None of the sympathetic cords were to be touched, no re- pentance or contrition, no changing of minds firmly purposed, but the keenest ambition was to come in rifle range and then to unhorse the

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

fleeing malefactor. To apply the knife to the throat of one of these was to be a favor graciously embraced by any one of the command. So determined was Captain Young and his men, Mercer County was soon delivered, and the outlaws fleeing for the south side of Green River, many of them, however, were killed before reaching Green River.

Captain Young was not satisfied with the great and good work that had been done, but determined to pursue the villains until the last one of them was made to bite the dust, or flee for safety to some other more congenial territory. To this end, therefore, he crossed Green River into what was then Henderson County, and it is asserted as a positive fact that twelve or thirteen outlaws were killed in this county. The citizens who had been so long under the terrible yoke, gave him all the aid possible and Henderson County was soon free. The mission of this God-serving band of brave and true men was ex- tended through Henderson on down as low as what was known as " Flin's Ferry " and " Cave-in-rock," on the Illinois side of the Ohio River. This place, it was said, and most generally known, was the headquarters of a numerous gang of Jack Shepard cut-throats, who had appointed it as a place of rendezvous, where they kept supplies for flatboats descending the Ohio. Here they held high carnival, engaged in their debauches and planned raids upon the surrounding country It was a secret hiding place, wild and frightful and danger- ous to attack. When rendezvous in sufficient numbers they frequently attacked flatboats, murdered the crews and floated the boat on to New Orleans on their own account.

This raid of Captain Young was the first check ever given the outlaws, and for a time broke them up almost entirely. It was soon followed by the killing of the notorious Uriah, or Big Harpe, and the flight of Little Harpe, Mason and others, to the territory of Mississ- ippi, where they and their co-operators were killed by each other, or captured and hanged by the law. Captain Young and his men re- turned to Mercer, receiving the plaudits of the people, and were ever afterward remembered in the prayers of those few settlers who had lived in indescribable suspense. The country, though thinly settled, was now brought to a state of quiet security, every face beamed in the hallowed evidence of liberty and freedom of speech, which had so long been denied them, and honest men soon became outspoken, while the over-timid and secret abettors of the outlaws couched lances with them in heralding the good name and daring deeds of

HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.

Captain Young and his glorious little squad. The outlaws had no friends now.

GREAT REVIVAL OF 1797.

It seemed as if by special divine will, that a yet greater check was to be given any future life of theirs in the Green River country- This came in the shape of a great religious revival, certainly the most wonderful and remarkable ever known prior to that time, and per- haps ever known since. Religious interest manifested itself in a most magical way, sweeping like a prairie flame, and extending its in- fluence in every direction. The entire Green River country, beginning with Warren County, was affected with this wonderful contagion. In those days there were very few, if any church buildings, and the pop- ulation small and very much scattered. No matter, this excitement seized the entire population, permeating every nook and corner of the counties, flying here and there' with all the indications of an incom- prehensible outbreak. These were the days of the great divine, Rev. Jas. McGready, whose strong preaching drew hundreds around him, and engaged their earnest work in behalf of the Master and His Kingdom on earth. Camp meetings became the order of the day, often continuing for a month or more. These meetings were attended . by people who had come from fifty to one hundred miles away- not curious amusement seekers, but men and women who had heard and had come to be taught and learn. They were bent upon more light and grace spiritually, than they had ever been enabled to gather from the solitude of a wilderness life. When assembled the body was a large one, a grand one, and great numbers, indeed a very great ma- jority, connected themselves with the church. Among that astonish- ing number of converts were many who had been suspected of being the secret abettors of the outlaws, but, notwithstanding the repulsive taint attaching to their moral character, they were welcomed into the church and did afterwards become respectable and useful citizens.

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History of Henderson County, Kentucky, Part 3

Author: Starling, Edmund Lyne, 1864- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Henderson, Ky. Number of Pages: 892

Author: Starling, Edmund Lyne, 1864- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Henderson, Ky.
Number of Pages: 892